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6th June: Jakarta – Countdown Asia Festival Day 1

A day after I got back I started thinking about the things I did in Japan. Of course, by now the rest of the AIDOL gang are heading to Fukuoka for the Sousenkyo, while I’m back to work and stuck in office. The one thing that I have been hammering myself about is my promise with Anna. I said yes to her when she asked me to come to Jakarta but the question is am I really going to Jakarta? Just to see Kamen Joshi again? I don’t really like them that much do I?

Turns out I kinda do. I basically finished all my money in Japan so I was lucky that the miles point I got from my Japan trip could cover up my Jakarta flight. Since I used up all my leave from work as well, I had to fly off Saturday morning and come back on Sunday night. Plus, I also asked for help from one of UKN48 staff, Anggy to stay near her place so I would save on accommodation. It was crazy but I was doing it.So on Saturday morning, there I was, with little to no money and heading to Jakarta for Kamen Joshi. I looked up the time table and Kamen Joshi has 2 performances on the 1st day. Yay! Plus, Dempagumi will also make an appearance on 2nd Day at 4.30pm, leaving my morning free. So, I decided to apply for JKT48’s theater in the morning.

I reached the airport and straightaway head to FX Sudirman, the shopping mall that JKT48’s theater is located at, to meet up with Mindmix from my Half48 irc chat. We head to Lapangan D Senayan together and was just in time for Kamen Joshi.

I also met up with Anggy, a timer from UKN48. Ixarus and Mocil couldn’t make it to the morning show as they had other plans so it was just me, Mindmix and Anggy.

Since this was literally my second time watching them live, I didn’t know the calls or even who the other members are. The ones appearing was Alice Juban, of whom I only recognized the center, Tachibana Anna and Sawada Risa, Wayne’s oshimen. There were a lot of Mori Kanon fans in attendance, which later I found out are called Kanon’s Children. And I find that interesting.

Kamen Gaijin subbed a few of Kamen Joshi’s Jakarta adventures which is of course translated by yours truly. I thought this was a good indication that I truly like the group. I wouldn’t translate something I don’t have an interest in and I was definitely interested in this group.

It was 2pm when Kamen Joshi’s performance was over and it was unbearably HOT in Jakarta. Me, Mindmix and Anggy head back to FX to enjoy the air-conditioned building since we have almost 4 hours till the next Kamen Joshi performance. We open up our phones and watch a streaming of Sousenkyo in a tiny cafe in Jakarta. It wasn’t ideal, I sure wished I was in Fukuoka watching it with my own two eyes but it was better than nothing. Plus, I love watching Anggy’s reaction every time someone from SKE ranks.

I saw Anna tweeted that there will be an impromptu handshake session. Since the sousenkyo stream was being wonky, I rushed Mindmix and Anggy to go to the handshake session with me. Knowing my luck, when we arrived the session ended but the girls were distributing flyers instead so I had to go see Anna and say something.

I yelled out “Anna!” to grab her attention. She saw me and immediately recognized me. “Half-chan, you really came!”. Not only did she recognized me but she remembered my name as well. No wonder people told me that she has a good memory. Their performance was up next and I couldn’t talk anymore. I was already being rude enough for taking her time when she should be heading to the stage to get ready. She gestured to me that she has to go to the stage while I nod understandingly that she needs to leave. She signaled me asking if I’ll be watching the live and I signaled back OK. It was a short interaction, but enough to make me feel happy.

By the evening performance, Ixa and Mocil came over to join us. We had so much fun headbanging to Kamen Joshi.

After Kamen Joshi, we sat around and continue struggling to stream Sousenkyo but ended up watching the twitter timeline instead. They were about to announce the Top 10, and every single announcement seemed to be taking such a long time.

Once Sasshi was announced as Number 1 again I laughed in all their faces and followed Anggy back. Kamen Joshi and Sousenkyo streaming with friends, it wasn’t what I had in mind a year before but it seemed perfect. I ended the day with an email from JKT48 saying I won the theater application for tomorrow.

About the author: Half

[Half Assed] is a one person subbing team. Meaning I’m doing all the translating, timing, uploading and bullshitting in all the videos.
In the video, I will sub the parts that I am very sure about and the ones I’m not sure I’ll just make up some stuff. This is where I will practice my 中途半端の日本語 (my half-assed Japanese). After all, a half-assed sub is better than no sub, right?